Albany forward has well-traveled family

Published: Friday, March 22, 2013 at 12:31 AM.

-- G’DAY MATE: Perhaps nobody has taken a lengthier journey to watch this NCAA Tournament than the mother, father and younger brother of Albany forward Sam Rowley, who’s from Australia.

They have come here from Sydney, halfway around the world, to cheer on the Great Danes, who have three Australian imports on their roster.

“It’s a long trip, maybe more time traveling than they are actually being here. It’s pretty crazy,” Rowley said. “They’re 15 hours ahead of us down there. So it’s virtually a complete reversal. Night is day. Day is night.”

Rowley, Albany’s leading rebounder, said the airplane flights have presented his family with an extra cost because his brother, an aspiring college basketball player, is coming off foot surgery.

“They actually had to buy an extra seat next to him, just so he could keep his foot elevated and stuff,” Rowley said. “That’s commitment.”

-- TIP-INS …: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Thursday that Albany has a standout playmaker in guard Mike Black (team-leading 14.9 points per game), an explosive 3-point shooter in guard Jacob Iati (12.1 points per game) and a toughness that’s personified in Rowley (9 points, 6.3 rebounds per game). “We want to play harder than them,” Krzyzewski said. “I know they’ll play really hard against us.” … Iati played sparingly at High Point during his freshman season (2008-09) before transferring to Albany. … Duke has received a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in 15 of the last 17 NCAA Tournaments, the most of any school during that span. … The Blue Devils are 6-1 in neutral-court games this season and 4-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games held in Philadelphia. … It’s Albany’s third NCAA berth and first since 2007. The Great Danes, who finished fifth in the America East Conference standings, won their league tournament by beating Maine (50-49) and Vermont (53-49).

PHILADELPHIA — An injured bystander at this time last season and again for nearly two months this season, Duke forward Ryan Kelly is thankfully energized to be able to play in the NCAA Tournament.

“I just feel very blessed to be in the position I’m in,” he said Thursday at Wells Fargo Center. “For my senior year, to be back and be playing in this tournament — obviously for every team there’s a lot of excitement surrounding it — but I feel like there can’t be many people more excited than me.”

After missing 13 games due to a right-foot injury, Kelly has been a source of diminishing production since his monster 36-point return game earlier this month against Miami.

He has scored eight points apiece, while shooting a combined 5-for-15 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range, in Duke’s last two games — a regular-season-ending victory at North Carolina and a loss to Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

But those somewhat underwhelming recent outings are minor details to Kelly.

The Blue Devils get started in the NCAA Tournament today against Albany. And he will be on the court, not on crutches.

“At the time, when I got hurt, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play again. And obviously I didn’t make the tournament last year,” he said. “It’s been fortunate. It was going to come down to a position of whether or not I could go out there and play or not, and tolerate any discomfort I had. And thank goodness I’ve been able to.”

-- G’DAY MATE: Perhaps nobody has taken a lengthier journey to watch this NCAA Tournament than the mother, father and younger brother of Albany forward Sam Rowley, who’s from Australia.

They have come here from Sydney, halfway around the world, to cheer on the Great Danes, who have three Australian imports on their roster.

“It’s a long trip, maybe more time traveling than they are actually being here. It’s pretty crazy,” Rowley said. “They’re 15 hours ahead of us down there. So it’s virtually a complete reversal. Night is day. Day is night.”

Rowley, Albany’s leading rebounder, said the airplane flights have presented his family with an extra cost because his brother, an aspiring college basketball player, is coming off foot surgery.

“They actually had to buy an extra seat next to him, just so he could keep his foot elevated and stuff,” Rowley said. “That’s commitment.”

-- TIP-INS …: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Thursday that Albany has a standout playmaker in guard Mike Black (team-leading 14.9 points per game), an explosive 3-point shooter in guard Jacob Iati (12.1 points per game) and a toughness that’s personified in Rowley (9 points, 6.3 rebounds per game). “We want to play harder than them,” Krzyzewski said. “I know they’ll play really hard against us.” … Iati played sparingly at High Point during his freshman season (2008-09) before transferring to Albany. … Duke has received a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in 15 of the last 17 NCAA Tournaments, the most of any school during that span. … The Blue Devils are 6-1 in neutral-court games this season and 4-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games held in Philadelphia. … It’s Albany’s third NCAA berth and first since 2007. The Great Danes, who finished fifth in the America East Conference standings, won their league tournament by beating Maine (50-49) and Vermont (53-49).